Tree stands are commonly used for supporting trees, e.g., Christmas trees, in a vertically upright manner. Such tree stands usually include a receptacle for receiving the base, or trunk, of a tree along with a volume of water, and bracing means, e.g., thumb screw, straps, etc., for propping the tree in a vertically upright posture. The water contained in the receptacle surrounds the tree base and provides nourishment to the tree thereby prolonging its live appearance.
Examples of tree support devices are disclosed in the U.S. Pats. 2,421,140 to Blaner and 2,855,168 to Vigna. These prior art patents disclose receptacles adapted to receive the base of a tree and a volume of liquid, bolts threadable through the receptacle for pressing against the tree base, and detachable legs. These tree stand devices are deficient in that they require many individually manufactured parts, and are not well suited for compact storage with like parts, such as by nesting within one another.
Examples of one-piece tree support devices adapted for compact storage with like devices, such as by nesting within one another, are shown in the U.S. Pat. 4,126,963 to Dunbar, and the "Con-i-Stand", manufactured by Olympic Specialties Company, Portand, Oreg.. However, the Dunbar '963 tree stand is deficient in that it requires the boring of a frustoconical hole in the base of the tree for support on a peg. If the tree has a crooked trunk, the peg will not prop it in a vertically upright posture. Additionally, no provision for bracing the tree upright with bolt means, e.g., thumb screws, is made. Thus, a large tree can not be properly stabilized. The "Con-i-Stand", by Olympic Specialties Co., is deficient in that the outer wall, or skirt, which extends from the top of the tree receptacle to the ground support, projects outwardly and downwardly from the receptacle at an excessively large angle. The purpose for the outer wall projecting outwardly at a very large angle is to provide adequate support for the device. However, this results in the inability to use vertically spaced pairs of bolt means, i.e., upper and lower pairs of bolts, to press against the tree base since the distance between the outer wall and the receptacle increases significantly as one moves down the receptacle. In other words, it would be impractical to use vertically spaced pairs of bolt means on the "Con-i-Stand" since extremely long bolts would be required to span the distance between the outer wall and the receptacle at positions spaced below the upper edge of the receptacle.